2026 Louisiana Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2026 Louisiana Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)Verified 2026-08-30
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in Louisiana. The cash wage is the part of the minimum wage the employer pays directly. The rest may be met by the employee's tips, up to the maximum tip credit the same row of the table states, and the table sets out separately how much an employee must receive in tips to count as a tipped employee at all.
What changed this year, and why
The Wage and Hour Division's table of minimum wages for tipped employees, in the version last revised July 1, 2026, gives $2.13 per hour as the minimum cash wage an employer may pay a tipped employee in Louisiana. The table carries only its own revision date and never dates the rate, so this page reports the figure as in force as of that revision rather than claiming an effective date no document states.
Common questions
- What is the tipped minimum wage in Louisiana in 2026?
- $2.13 per hour in cash wages. That is what the Department of Labor's table of minimum wages for tipped employees, last revised July 1, 2026, gives as the minimum cash wage for a tipped employee in Louisiana. Tips make up the remainder of the applicable minimum wage, up to the maximum tip credit stated in the same row.
- What if tips do not bring the employee up to the full minimum wage?
- The employer pays the difference. A tip credit is a credit against the minimum wage the employer already owes, not a lower wage in its own right, so an employee whose cash wage and tips together fall short of the applicable minimum wage is owed the shortfall in wages.
- Where does the figure on this page come from?
- From Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees, the table the Wage and Hour Division publishes by state, in the version last revised July 1, 2026. The row it was read from is quoted on this page, and the snapshot it was verified against is the one captured for this record.
Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The Tips needed per hour takes the number you enter and works it out against them, showing which published figure it used.
Who counts as a tipped employee
In Louisiana, you count as a tipped employee under federal law if your job is one where you customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. The work itself must be of a type where tips are the norm — not just an occasional gratuity. Only the tips you actually receive matter when your employer is figuring out whether you qualify as a tipped employee and when it is applying the tip credit. If your tips in a given month fall below that $30 threshold, you are not considered a tipped employee for that period, and your employer loses the right to pay you the lower cash wage of $2.13 an hour. This definition sets the floor for every other rule on tipped wages: until you clear it, the full minimum wage applies to you in Louisiana.
Under the FLSA, a tipped employee is an employee engaged in an occupation in which they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
In Louisiana, the Fair Labor Standards Act lets an employer pay a tipped worker a direct cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour and claim a tip credit to cover the gap between that cash wage and the full federal minimum wage. The tip credit is the difference between what the employer pays in cash and the minimum wage it would otherwise owe. The employer can only use this credit if it can show, for every workweek, that your cash wages plus the tips you actually received add up to at least the full minimum wage. Only tips you actually receive count — not projected or estimated tips. If in any workweek your cash wages and tips together fall below the minimum wage, your employer must make up the shortfall. This two-part system — a guaranteed floor of $2.13 in cash plus enough tips to reach the full minimum wage — is what the tip credit means for workers in Louisiana.
An employer must pay a tipped worker at least $2.13 per hour under the FLSA. An employer can take an FLSA tip credit equal to the difference between the direct wage, or the cash wage it pays directly to the tipped employee, and the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 per hour.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
In Louisiana, if your tips combined with your employer's direct cash wages do not equal at least $7.25 per hour in any workweek, the employer must make up the difference. This protection applies every single workweek, not just on average over a month or pay period. Your employer cannot rely on good weeks to offset bad weeks—each workweek stands on its own. If customer traffic is slow or tips are otherwise insufficient in a particular week, your employer is legally required to pay you enough in direct wages to bring your total earnings up to the full minimum wage. This rule ensures that tipped employees in Louisiana always receive at least the minimum wage for every hour they work, regardless of how much they earn in tips during any given week.
If an employee’s tips combined with the employer’s direct (or cash) wages do not equal the minimum hourly wage of $7.25 per hour in each workweek, the employer must make up the difference.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
The notice an employer owes you before it takes the credit
In Louisiana, before an employer can use the tip credit to pay you less than the full minimum wage, it must give you specific information. The employer must tell you the amount of the cash wage it is paying you, which must be at least $2.13 per hour; the amount it is claiming as a tip credit; that the tip credit cannot exceed the tips you actually receive; that all tips you receive are yours to keep, except for valid tip-pool contributions; and that the tip credit will not apply unless you have been told all of this. The notice can be oral or written, but if the employer fails to provide it, it cannot take the tip credit at all and must pay you the full minimum wage. This requirement gives Louisiana workers a chance to understand how their pay is being calculated and to verify that the employer is following the rules before the lower wage takes effect.
Employers must provide the following information to tipped employees before taking a tip credit under the FLSA:
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
In Louisiana, when state law differs from the federal FLSA, employers must comply with the standard most protective to employees. This means if Louisiana law provides a higher cash wage, better tip protections, or other more favorable terms than federal law, your employer must follow the Louisiana rule. For example, some states require employers to pay tipped workers more than the federal minimum cash wage of $2.13 per hour, and some states prohibit employers from taking a tip credit entirely. You are entitled to whichever rule—federal or state—gives you greater protection or higher wages. This principle ensures that workers in Louisiana receive the best available treatment under applicable law, rather than being limited to the federal floor when state standards are more generous.
When state law differs from the federal FLSA, an employer must comply with the standard most protective to employees.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
In Louisiana, federal law prohibits employers from keeping any portion of employees' tips for any purpose, whether directly or through a tip pool. This rule applies regardless of whether the employer takes a tip credit. Your employer, and any managers or supervisors who work at the establishment, cannot require you to hand over your tips to them or to the business. Even if the employer pays you the full minimum wage in direct cash wages and takes no tip credit at all, your tips still belong to you. The only lawful exception is a valid tip pool contribution shared with other non-supervisory employees in traditionally tipped occupations. This protection ensures that the gratuities customers leave for you as a reward for your service reach you, not your employer or its managers.
Regardless of whether an employer takes a tip credit, the FLSA prohibits employers from keeping any portion of employees’ tips for any purpose, whether directly or through a tip pool.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In Louisiana, when your employer takes a tip credit, it can require you to contribute to a tip pool, but that pool must be limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips. This is called a traditional tip pool. It includes workers such as waiters, bellhops, counter personnel who serve customers, bussers, and service bartenders. It cannot include back-of-house employees such as cooks or dishwashers. The employer must notify you of any required contribution amount and may only take a tip credit for the tips you actually keep after the pool is distributed. It may not retain any of the pooled tips for itself. This rule ensures that tip pools serve their intended purpose — sharing customer gratuities among workers who depend on tips as a regular part of their compensation in Louisiana.
to a tip pool which is limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Doing two jobs for one employer
In Louisiana, when you work two different jobs for the same employer—like a hotel maintenance worker who also serves as a server—you are a tipped employee only with respect to the job where you customarily and regularly receive tips. If you earn at least $30 a month in tips as a server, your employer can take a tip credit for your hours worked as a server. However, for your hours worked as a maintenance person, no tip credit can be taken, and your employer must pay you the full minimum wage for every hour you spend doing maintenance work. This rule prevents employers from applying the lower tipped wage to jobs where you do not regularly receive tips. You must be paid the full minimum wage for all non-tipped work, even if you also work in a tipped position for the same employer.
In such a situation the employee, if they customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips for their work as a server, is a tipped employee only with respect to their employment as a server. The worker is employed in two occupations, and no tip credit can be taken for their hours of employment in their occupation as a maintenance person.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)
- Minimum cash wage
Louisiana 11 $7.25 $5.12 $2.13 More than $30
Other years
- 2026
Every Louisiana Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state